Moose

We were graciously given two Moose roasts from some friends of ours from work.  I have been wanting to cook them/scared of cooking them for a while.  But I had to try.  So I cooked it like a pot roast.  The flavor was good, but I good it a little too long so it was tough.  Although Moose is typically a very lean and tough meet.  Next time I will try it a different way.  Here are the pictures:

In the package

Out of the package.  I prepared it by taking off the silver skin and the white stuff so it wouldn't taste too gamey.

Seared it.

I cut holes in the meat and put garlic in side, rubbed it with lots of different herbs, then placed it on top of onions and beef stock.  I also put bacon on top of the roast.

The leftovers. 

And I roasted some veggies to go along with it!  We also had salad and mashed potatoes.

First Day of Kindergarten

Well the day finally came.  My little Lila's first day of Kindergarten!!

Lila has been ready to go to school for at least a year now.  She has been asking, and asking, and asking when she would start school. 

The week before school, Lila had her Kindergarten screening with her new teacher Mr. Collins.

Lila with Mr. Collins

They do a screening before Kindergarten, then they repeat it after Kindergarten to see their progress.  Lila did pretty well, until she got bored.  Then she answered every question with, "I don't know".  It was hard to keep from laughing!

After her screening, we took a picture in front of the Elementary School building.

Lila in front of her school

Because of the permifrost, most of the buildings here are built on metal poles that are drilled deep into the earth.  This is how they make the foundation. 

On the first day of school, we work up early.  I got ready, then I got Lila up.  I made her blueberry pancakes (from the blueberries we picked earlier) and got her ready. 

Lila wearing the outfit I got her from Gymboree a year ago!

She was so excited that morning!  After we got dressed I took her downstairs to her "bus stop".  Lucky for us, the bus picks Lila up right outside our building.  That will be very nice when winter comes!

Winter coat and boots on a rainy August morning in Nome

Finally the bus came and the two other kids at our stop went running on to the bus.  Lila turned to me and said, "is that my bus Mommy?".  I said yes and she ran on too.  I had to stop her to take her picture!  Luckily the bus driver didn't mind.  I think he's done the first day of school a time or two before!

Lila and her bus driver

After Lila got on the bus, I ran upstairs and got Will, and off we went to the school to make sure she found her class okay.  Once we got there and I found a spot for our big diesel truck, I went looking for Lila.  I couldn't find the busses anywhere.  Finally we went to her classroom and there she was, happily colouring.  She didn't need me, she found her classroom on her own!

Lila colouring a page of Salmon...only in Nome!

Will and I had a quiet day at home waiting for Lila to arrive.  It felt like forever, but she finally made it home.  I can see her bus arrive from the window of our apartment.

 Here she is getting off the bus and up the stairs to the apartment.

She told me that she had a great day and so much fun!  She made two friends and saw another friend who is in Grade 1.  Will and I were very happy to see her home again!

Showing her brother what she learned in school.